Catharsis
by necessarily-anonymous
Summary: When a mission goes tragically wrong, Detective Sasuke Uchiha is forced to see a therapist. However, his sessions there don't go exactly as planned. NaruSasuNaru. AU.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N** : I hope you like this. Beta-d by Hanyou_elf... but that was a long time ago and before i edited this... so all mistakes are mine. Please forgive me in advance. XD

**Warnings **: AU, sex, bad language, commas, angst etc

**Pairing**: NaruSasuNaruSasuNaru...? gah. You decide.

**Summary** : After an undercover mission goes tragically wrong, Detective Uchiha Sasuke is forced to see a counsellor. However his sessions there don't go exactly as planned. Naruto & Sasuke.

**Catharsis : Chapter 1 **

"I'm sorry Sasuke, rules are rules. You have to go."

"I'm _fine_," the lean, dark haired man insisted, eyes narrowed to slits.

The angry glare being directed at him by his subordinate, Asuma Sarutobi decided, was undeserved. He leaned back into his chair, folding his arms over his chest.

"You seem to forget kid, that if I don't send you I'll be the one who gets in trouble."

" You've been signing the papers for the past two months anyway. No one is going to know."

"The rest of your team is going, so should you."

"The rest?" Sasuke said, a familiar feeling of nausea engulfing him, "If that's your idea of a joke, it's not funny.."

Asuma gave him a small frown, "Exactly, Detective. It _isn't_ funny. There are only two of you left. Out of _seven_. Nara took two months leave after what happened, and he still regularly goes to his therapist. You _need _to see someone."

Sasuke's lips thinned, he didn't need to be reminded. He relived it every day, in every nightmare, in every idle moment - _Help me, Sasuke -_ He paused, momentarily unable to swallow. "And I take responsibility for what happened," he found himself saying. "I don't need a fucking shrink to tell me that."

Asuma sighed, lighting a cigarette. He hadn't missed the subtle change of expression on the younger man's face and it worried him. It had been a mistake, he realised, to have indulged his favourite's tantrums about not going to a therapist.

"This is not about responsibility, Sasuke," Asuma began.

Sasuke opened his mouth, ready to argue, but his boss interrupted him.

"We all know it wasn't your fault. Except you. It's been four months since it happened, and you show no signs of grief. It's not normal."

"So you're blaming me for not being a weakling?" Sasuke barely stopped himself from shouting. The entire station probably had their ears glued to the door anyway. Seeing the great detective Uchiha Sasuke being reprimanded was too rare an occasion to be missed.

Asuma blew out smoke, hiding the expression on his face for a moment.

"Enough," he said firmly. " It's obvious you need help. I'm sending you to the consulting police counsellor whether you like it or not."

Sasuke sneered, "I'd like to see you try."

"Don't test me, Detective."

Sasuke didn't answer, just continued to glare. No one was going to force him to go to a bloody shrink.

"Fine," Asuma said, sounding resigned. "If you don't go. I'm going to suspend you, staring today."

"Let's see how long that lasts, _Sir,_" Sasuke smirked. One phone call and he could have this idiot sitting in front of him demoted to a traffic constable.

Asuma raised an eyebrow, "Threatening me isn't going to work, Detective. These orders have come from the top."

However high Asuma had contacts, they could never go higher than Sasuke's. His boss, however, looked unaffected by his confidence,

"So Detective, I've assigned you to the best counsellor our force has. His name is - "

"No!" Sasuke snarled. The moment he was out of here, he was calling his brother. Then he could have this stupid bumble headed cop out of his way.

Asuma sighed, and Sasuke resented the attitude. He was not going to be treated like a child, dammit! He watched suspiciously as Asuma stubbed his cigarette on the desk and picked up the phone.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked, now a little apprehensive.

Asuma didn't answer, just gave him a small, sympathetic smile." Hello? Yes, Can I please speak to Director General Uchiha please? This is Captain Sarutobi speaking."

Sasuke stared in horror at his boss... No..

"Ah. Thank you for speaking to me, Sir," Asuma said. "Yes, your brother is over here. I appreciate this favour, Sir."

Sasuke glared at the phone receiver held out to him like it was toxic. His brother would never go behind his back like this…Right? ..

"H – Hello?" Sasuke said, lifting his head to scowl at Asuma ,who was lighting another cigarette and staring at the ceiling. He looked far too casual for this to be a trick.

"Otouto," came the deep rumble of his brother's voice. The moment he heard the disapproving tone in his older brothers voice, Sasuke knew he had lost. His sneaky boss had played _dirty_. The bastard!

He clutched the phone tightly, studying his feet.

"Aniki..." Sasuke managed.

"What's this I'm hearing about you refusing to go to a counsellor?"

….Shit.

Session 1 :

Sasuke tapped his foot on the floor, impatient and furious. He glanced at the business card he was holding, avoiding the eyes of the woman who was seated behind the receptionist's desk. His counsellor's name was some guy called Rock Lee. Jeez, he could tell from the name itself that he was going to be a moron. He could not believe he was expected to sit here, in the midst of a bunch of psychos and drug addicts, and believe this was good for him!

Instead of wasting time here, he could be looking over the file of his new case and maybe catch the fucker responsible for his team dying.

_-Help me Sasuke-_

He grimaced, his fists tightening, unprepared but unsurprised at the images that attacked him the moment the thought flittered into his head.

_He was running. Following a winding, endless corridor. His footsteps thudded on the uneven floor, eyes trained on the blinding glow a metre away. The light at the end of the tunnel, giggled a voice in his head. His walkie talkie buzzed to life, the words of his captain filtering through. He could vaguely hear him say "don't...in.. stop." But he ignored it, he could make it. He _had_ to. His boots no longer thudded on the floor as he ran, instead they squelched as he passed, the reek of blood and urine strong enough to make him gag. He didn't look down, he couldn't. It wasn't them, It wasn't _them_, his mind chanted. He was going to make it. The light at the end of the corridor brightened, blinding him - _

"Uchiha Sasuke?"

Sasuke looked up, blinking the room into the focus. He sucked in a breath, very aware of the several pairs of curious eyes on him. Shit. A fragment of his conversation with Asuma played itself in his head – _not normal_ - that's what the Captain had said, hadn't he? He nodded to the secretary, standing up when she motioned him to her. Hn, okay so maybe he wasn't functioning as he well as he usually did, but so what? Heh, he didn't want to be '_normal_.'

Or average.

Which was why he knew he did not need a shrink. Like others would need in his position. He was _not_ weak and refused to acknowledge this ridiculous effort by taking it seriously.

No one knew Detective Sasuke Uchiha better than himself. He was a hundred percent sure of that

"Room four –oh –one," the smiling secretary said."Your counsellor's name is Lee."

He grunted a response, to which the woman gave him a sympathetic smile, "You're welcome, Sir." Her look seemed to say, 'Too bad you're crazy, you're really cute.'

Sasuke glared, satisfied when she looked away nervously. Idiot, he thought as he entered a corridor with several numbered doors. He was going to kill Itachi the next time he met him. Well... at least try to. He hated the hold his brother had on him, it was embarrassing really. He had looked forward to Itachi messing up when he had been promoted - the youngest ever Director General in police force history. But he hadn't, and Sasuke's awe and resentment of his brother had risen a notch higher..

358..

Stupid Itachi..

359

When he was promoted, he was going to fire Asuma..

400.

... Maybe he should turn back

401...

Too late.

He twisted the door knob, and the door swung open, revealing two men sitting across from each other having a rather heated discussion. Sasuke waited for a moment when he realised they hadn't noticed him yet.

The one on the left, seated on a large leather couch was a rather strange looking man. His bowl like head was nodding so fast, it almost blurred. Sasuke could only make out the large caterpillar like eyes brows on his face that were furrowed in concentration as he listened to what the other man was saying.

"-And then she actually went ahead and did it! Can you believe that Lee? After all the hard work that I put in -"

Sasuke flicked his eyes to the man who was speaking. He was a rather impressive sight, he had to admit. Blond hair, with strange horizontal scars on his cheeks. It somehow only accentuated his features, the high cheek bones and strong jaw, instead of taking away from them. It was a face one never forgot.

Sasuke cleared his throat, thinking that any more eavesdropping would be considered rude. Both men jumped, turning around to look at him, the surprise on their face a little amusing. The blond even looked a little offended,

"Haven't you heard of knocking?" he said, frowning.

"I was told you were expecting me. I'm Sasuke." Sasuke deadpanned, looking at the bowl headed man. 'Lee' widened his already impossibly circular eyes and then jumped up. The energy rolling off of him a wave of intensity that made Sasuke want to take a step back.

"Oh, Sasuke – san! I apologise sincerely!" he cried, walking towards him. "I just got carried away by my friend's extraordinary tale!"

Sasuke stared at him, half in trepidation, as Lee extended both arms for a hand shake. He ignored the gesture, and barely controlled a grimace when he saw the man was wearing a ... _green_ suit? What the fuck? _This_ guy was supposed to be the best counsellor the police had? The wide eyed, bushy browed man beamed at him, oblivious to the fact that Sasuke hadn't bothered to take the two handed hand shake. The other person in the room, however, wasn't.

"Wow, you're a regular bastard, aren't you?"

Surprised, Sasuke flicked his gaze to the blond man, who had stood up. He looked a little shorter than him, but the semi casual shirt that hung loosely on his shoulders didn't fool Sasuke. This guy was thicker than his own lean frame, like he worked out regularly. Hn, he thought. Wonder what was wrong with him... probably mommy issues, he mused, trying not to smirk.

"Only to morons."

Sasuke enjoyed seeing the angry flush that spread across those scarred cheeks. The man was about to snap something back but then he glanced at Lee who was shaking his head, obviously a sign to stop.

"Naruto! I appreciate your vigorous defence of me but this is a very respected guest of mine."

The man known as Naruto glared at Sasuke, like he was considering insulting him anyway, but then there was a deep breath and a sigh.

"Fine. But seriously Lee, don't take so much shit from people."

Lee bared both rows of teeth in a smile that made Sasuke sick.

" I assure you, my dearest friend, that he did not mean any harm ."

Naruto looked unconvinced, " I'll see you next week, Lee."

Sasuke observed their interaction very closely. He had assumed that the blond was the patient, but could it be otherwise?

"Of course. We'll discuss what happened later."

Or maybe not...

"Yeah."

"I am looking forward to our next meeting!" The green suited man nodded violently as he spoke, with the energy of a bobble head

Huh, Sasuke thought, he had a bobble-headed maniac for a counsellor. What a joke. He stared with narrowed eyes at the ridiculous cartoon in front of him, who was currently in the process of bobbing his head towards Sasuke, his eyes firmly on the blond. It was a less than subtle hint for Naruto to introduce himself, but still, the blond allowed a moment of awkward silence to prevail before turning to Sasuke with a roll of eyes.

"I'm Naruto," he said. His shoulders relaxed a fraction but there was no extended hand for Sasuke to take.

He recognized the deliberate absence of the gesture and raised an eyebrow, amused.

"Sasuke."

Naruto paused for a moment, like he was repeating his name in his head, before his gaze dropped and then very slowly inched back to Sasuke's face. 'Naruto' was doing a very poor job of hiding his interest and Sasuke wanted to sneer. If it wasn't his last name, then it was his looks that encouraged people act like idiots around him. He could deal with one less moron.

Naruto gave him a small smile, "Nice knowing ya, bastard."

Excuse me?

But before Sasuke could reply to the insult, the man was leaving.

"See ya Lee, I'll catch up with you later .."

Very aware that he was blocking the door, Sasuke remained where he was, watching as Naruto walked towards him. When he was a few feet away, the blond stopped, eyeing him like he knew exactly why Sasuke wasn't moving. Which was strange, because Sasuke didn't know why himself.

It was only a moment, but then Sasuke stepped aside and Naruto passed, traces of a fresh aqua perfume lingering even after he had shut the door behind him. It was odd, because even when he replayed what the blond had said, Sasuke hadn't detected any malice behind the obvious insult. What a strange –

"Ah, Detective! I'm so glad you decided to come!"

The reason he was here suddenly struck him like a physical blow, making Sasuke breathless for a moment. Even if the shrinks voice was light and friendly, it sounded more like a death knell to him. The blond's presence had somehow messed with his equilibrium and he had forgotten that he was supposed to hate being here.

He let a faint sneer escape his schooled expression of indifference. It didn't seem to faze the bowl headed man even a bit, because he just gestured to the couch Naruto had just been sitting in. Sasuke paused, still considering leaving but his weariness made him give in for the moment.

The man seemed sincere after all, and it wasn't like Sasuke was going to be very cooperative in the future, so what harm would there be to make this first step a little easier on the both of them? He sat down on the offered chair, liking the perfect blend of softness and comfort.

"Welcome! It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Hn." Sasuke actually felt pity for the stupid man with the poor taste in suits. Did he actually believe that some useless therapy could help him?

"So why don't you start by telling me something about your youthful self!"

"…"

_Well, at least he wouldn't be uncomfortable during these idiotic sessions.._


	2. Session 2 and 3

Warnings : improper use of commas

A/N : The second chapters up. thank you for the reviews. they made me happy.

**Chapter 2 : Sessions 2 and 3.**

**Session 2 : **

Sasuke waited, bored, to be let into the 's office. He had thought that turning up late would shorten their session but apparently his therapist had over shot the previous session, making Sasuke the one who had to wait. Not that he minded. The longer he had to sit here, the less time he had to endure being inside that room.

He grimaced, remembering last week. He had been expecting intrusive, idiotic questions but instead Lee had kept it casual, asking friendly, general questions. Sasuke didn't think he had felt so god damn awkward in his whole life. The wide, concerned eyes of his shrink had made him so uncomfortable that he had been tempted to give in and _talk, _ just so he wouldn't be looked at like that.

But he hadn't, of course, because that would mean giving in and Sasuke Uchiha never gave in. Maybe he could be thrown out of therapy if he was uncommunicative enough, he mused.

"Oh look, it's the bastard!"

Sasuke's head jerked to the right, surprised to see the blond guy, Naruto, if remembered right, walk inside, dumping his coat on an empty couch. Sasuke didn't reply, preferring to ignore the moron. He needed to hoard his resources for the next 45 minutes or so. It wasn't very easy to fend off an enthusiastic therapist.

"Haven't changed much, huh?" The voice was now next to him and Sasuke raised an eyebrow when the man, Naruto, he reminded himself, slumped to sit right next to him. A little too close than what would be considered polite. He didn't answer, itching to move away from the blond but at that moment an old, stern looking lady sat on his left, blocking any chance of escape.

Naruto chuckled."Too bad, you're stuck with me now," he said, nudging him with his elbow.

"Moron," Sasuke snapped, clenching his fist so that the intensity of his irritation didn't filter through his voice.

"So it speaks!" Naruto said, a large grin in his voice.

_Ignore him, Ignore him, _Sasuke repeated to himself.

"A detective, huh?" The blond said after a while.

"..."

"How did I guess? Its written all over your face. You can usually spot a cop a mile away-"

_Oh god, why wont he shut up?_

"-Especially someone like you. I thought you looked familiar last week, so I looked you up."

_He. Did. What?_

Sasuke turned and gave the blond the filthiest glare he could muster up at short notice. Naruto seemed oblivious, scratching his nose absent mindedly.

" I mean, it seemed like I knew you from before, but that isn't possible right? So the whole way back home last week I tried to remember where I'd seen you before. And then it hit me! I hadn't seen _you _before, I'd seem someone who just looked like you -"

Sasuke could only guess what was coming next so he looked away, determined to shut the cheerful voice out.

"The papers were full of your brother's pictures just a few months ago. It must suck to have such an over achieving sibling, huh."

Sasuke concealed his surprise by staring at his shoes. Most people gave him different renditions of "you must be _so_ proud" or, his personal favourite, "How lucky you are to have such a brilliant brother." Sasuke wasn't lucky, he was cursed. When even coming first in school never quite measured up, it became harder and harder to care.

"So anyway, since I found out your last name, I googled you."

"I hope you enjoyed your little stalking session" Sasuke hissed, anger ballooning out the words before he could stop himself.

The old lady next to him frowned in disapproval but Sasuke just glared at her until she looked away.

"I did not." Naruto replied, the sudden seriousness in his voice clueing Sasuke in that he had probably read all about his failed mission. Itachi had managed to keep it under wraps, but there still were a few small details that had slipped through the cracks. Seven people of a celebrated department didn't just die without the media finding out. He risked a glance at Naruto and regretted it almost at once. It was only his pride that forced him to stay put instead of running away from the genuine concern on Naruto's face. There was a tense silence before the blond spoke again, this time in his earlier, carefree voice.

"What happened must have sucked," he said. "No wonder you're a basket case, eh?"

And again, there was that elbow, nudging him like they were part of a secret conspiracy together. Sasuke took only a fraction of a second to decide. Then his hand was moving, his fist closing, and even if the blond did manage to duck the first blow, the second one was right on target. Crunch. Warm blood had never felt so good on his skin.

Unfortunately, instead of being thrown out of the office for starting a violent altercation, he was escorted , bloody nose and all (Naruto did manage to get a few in too) right back into Lee's office, and right back into that annoyingly comfortable chair.

**Session 3**

Sasuke felt drained. The word 'persistent' did not do his therapist any justice. All his tactics of side tracking, avoidance, refusing to answer questions, sneering and basic strategies that left people either in tears or running away with their tail behind their legs, seemed to have no effect on that man. Even his regular nightmares had twisted into incorporating the wide eyed idiotic therapist in them. He shut the door behind him, pursing his lips.

What he wouldn't do for a hot cup of tea –

"Oh lookie, it's the bastard!"

Sasuke was too weary to even hide his grimace. He made up his mind to ask Lee to change his appointment time so he wouldn't run into the blond every time he came here. Sasuke walked past the receptionists desk, on which Naruto was leaning casually, hips canting in too casual a way to be even considered decent for a man.

"You look like shit," Naruto said, a smaller than usual grin on his face.

Sasuke wanted to ignore him, he really did. He really really did. But there was something about this man that was impossible to ignore, like an itch that you couldn't keep from scratching even when it bled. He felt almost powerless as he paused, looking the man over. Any traces of last week's ...disagreement... had disappeared, and this annoyed Sasuke, especially since _his_ nose was still in plaster.

"No thanks to you," Sasuke snapped, disappointed with the half hearted venom in his voice. The receptionist behind Naruto looked nervous, eyes flicking between the two of them like she expected another fight.

"Hey, you started it. How's your nose?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke heard the genuine concern underneath the light teasing, and it made him even wearier.

"I've had worse."

Naruto pushed himself up from the desk, "I know." He ran a hand through his hair, his gaze intense and almost calculating, "I read that when you were a rookie a drug dealer tried to run you over with his car."

Sasuke stared, "That was seven years ago and he _did_ run me over." A pause, then, " How the fuck do you _know_ that?"

Naruto gave him that smile again, like he was including Sasuke in their very own secret joke, and ignored his question. "I bet your brother was pissed when that happened."

"He was," Sasuke said, a tingle in his spine telling him to remain suspicious of this cheery, grinning man.

"Did he catch them?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke's gut told him that Naruto _had _to know the answer to that, but something about the innocent tilt of head made him hesitate.

"Yeah," he said, looking away. The memories of those two weeks in the hospital brought a rush of acute embarrassment back. His brother had been only a Detective at that time. But he had been so furious, so furious... Sasuke remembered that even the nurses in the hospital used to run away in fright whenever Itachi visited, he used to have a crazy glint in his eyes that terrified the masses. It had taken only a week after that incident to crack the case, only one of the first in a string of many, many, many successes. Unlike Sasuke... who fucked up and was responsible for –

_- Help me Sasuke-_

"-I bet he kicked those drug dealer's asses."

Naruto's voice cut through the beginning of his day dream, leaving him disoriented, like he had just managed to miss tripping over a step.

"He did." Sasuke said slowly, adjusting his tie to hide his slip up.

Naruto grinned at him, pushing up from the desk and walking towards him, hands curling around his elbow like it was the most natural thing to do in the world.

"D'you want to go get some tea?"

Sasuke blinked, the sudden invitation and warm fingers reminding him of the very obvious interest Naruto had shown in him the first time they had met. He was tempted to refuse, but then again, this _was _just tea, which he badly needed. The blue eyes bored into him as he considered , a glint in them clueing Sasuke in that tea may not be the only thing that was in the offering...

"Sure." Sasuke said, trying to hide his amusement as the receptionists eyes almost bulged out of her head.

"Awesome! I know this cute little place just five minutes from here." Naruto's fingers slid from his elbow and grabbed his hand, grinning in a way that told Sasuke that he hadn't missed the woman's reaction either.

"Come on," he said, tugging on his fingers . Sasuke followed, perplexed at his own behaviour, but couldn't be bothered to care.

XXXX

A/N : An opinion/review is always greatly appreciated. xx


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